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I CORNER

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Everything posted by I CORNER

  1. And the SSS has a classic and timeless design that gets me at least a compliment every single month, even though I need paint on the roof, Gaylord tonneau cover, hood, and front bumper & grille, after 215K miles and being parked outside in South Florida sun EVERY single day except maybe 20 days since 12/2003. In addition, I work at the St. Lucie Nuclear plant, which is about 150 yards from the beach (salt spray) and I am ONLY just getting body rust starting on the bottom of the front passenger door. I am amazed with the LQ9 (LS1 architecture) longenvity and the factory paint durability/quality considering! My wife's 2014 BMW 335i M-Sport with 87K miles has already needed the front bumper painted from water-based paint chipping off during highway driving! BMW paint is not durable like the SSS. Oh and BMW uses plastic for the charge pipe coming off the turbo to the intercooler and hard plastic line from the radaitor inlet hose to the overflow tank, which have both broken on me. What could possibly go wrong with using hard plastic on hot engine systems under pressure! BMW got me for $1060 to replace the 3 foot plastic turbo charge pipe, that took them 45 minutes to swap out. Geez!! SSS makes BMW look like an unreliable POS!
  2. I just hit 215,000 miles. I still love the truck, and its still runs strong for basically stock. Getting ready to spend another $5000 to repaint and freshen up. Still on original alternator, radiator, power steering pump, etc. Replaced water pump at about 180,000 miles for $120 and it was the easiest WP I had ever done. Never stranded me. Only major failure was transfer case needed replacement at 150,000 miles for $2300 (on the road) as rear driveshaft yoke was flopping around in it, but as it turns out I still was able to drive from West Palm Beach to Harrisburg PA on the front differential. That failure might have been my fault as I replaced with transmission fluid via shop manual when I hear that the GM Autotrack fluid is the best fluid for the SSS. Can't use gear oil like 4WD in our AWD. Anyway, I prefer these trucks over new, as the new Silverados are much taller and bigger overall. My truck with 305mm tires takes corners very well, and remains a more capable handling truck than the larger and heavier modern trucks.
  3. I am 6ft 1". I did them from the top and it all went all pretty easy. It is a truck. I replaced at 95,000 miles and they had low wear. I replaced with Bosch Platinum Plus 4's and the truck still runs real strong (for stock with PCM's for less tune, Magnaflow mufflers and Volant ram air thru the passenger duct air cleaner) at 215,000 miles. I am really amazed at the longevity of the LQ9 motor with its basic LS architecture.
  4. I went with the thicker Crystaline 3M tint in 70% transmittance, due to its total block of infrared (heat) in hot Florida sun. It works fine in the SSS truck with the very bright LED headlights that I use. However, I did it in my C6Z too and regret it, as the factory HID lighting on that car is not so good. I hit a large racoon in the Vette last August causing $2600 damage to front bumper cladding, fog lamp and carbon fiber splitter. Now I am afraid to drive it at night, as a dead Armadillo in the road can due extensive damage to the car, which the truck would simply drive over. Oh, is that a Street Scene Cowl Induction steel hood? If so how long have you had it? I got mine painted, but since it is a double panel hood for strength, which cannot be painted between the panels without factory dipping, it began to rust from the inside out at about 1.5 years after painting. Now I am looking for a fiberglass hood to replace it.
  5. I agree with some other guy that HIDs in reflector housings can be at high risk of blinding light scatter. Some of the very large Ford truck reflector light enclosures were particularly bad. My personal experience with our 2003-2006 Silverado light enclosures work pretty well with HIDs & LEDs. I have only been flashed by oncoming drivers once with the my LEDs (non with the Kensun HIDs), and it was only as I went over a sharp dip and rise in the road just as they approached and they momentarily saw my low beams. They thought that I flashed them as my lights are bright in the intended light pattern. The better LEDs use very small high output chips located very near the location of the original halogen bulb illuminating element. Also with chips on either side of the flat blade (left/right), there is little wasted light reflecting to the lower reflector surfaces which scatter the light upwards. Also the SNGLs are adjustable for insertion depth to limit light scatter by focus adjustments. Either way you need to spend some time aligning the lights after upgrade to avoid blinding other drivers. At $178 a pair, they are not cheap, but their outputs don't seem to be BS. I actually got a minor welders eye burn when I looked at the bulb to see if all 8 chips were on 6 months after original install. Note that I did have a SNGL led bulb burn out after 2 years. However, I use my lights all the time day and night for safety due the number of blind retired drivers in South Florida and at 215,000 miles driven I use them a lot. I have looked at the Morimoto's for the Corvette Z06 light enclosures, but at $1300 a pair I am not quite sold yet that they are my answer for that car. They cannot seem to answer which chips are used and technical light output they deliver. Phillips or Cree all publish extensive specs on their LED chips. Also, I have bought the plastic light enclosures in the aftermarket before only have them haze or craze over due to inferior quality plastics.
  6. I would not recommend HID lights anymore. I tried Kensun 55W HID lights on my truck for both high and low beams. Low beam performance was good, but it takes the high beams too long to heat up to get good output to be useful on any roads where vehicles are coming towards you periodically. Also I felt that the hot HIDs are tough on the factory clear light enclosure plastic, and fogs them over time. I converted to 55W SNGL LED lights from Amazon, which I feel are brighter than then the Kensuns HIDs. SNGL claims 12800 lumens per pair, and I believe it. With high and low beam lights it is like a 747 coming in for a landing.. These LEDs work great in the SSS reflector light housings. The only downside, is that you will need to seriously trim the black plastic supports behind the lights to get clearance for the light fan coolers, but is well worth it. The replacement black plastic factory light supports can still be bought reasonably cheap to go back to stock later. I just wish that my 2008 Corvette Z06 had better projectors (which do not tarnish or block alot of the light), as I could use my SSS light output levels to see critters in the road better in that car at night, as I can't clear a dead squirrel in the road with 3.75" factory road clearance with the carbon fiber splitter.
  7. I haven't been so active on the boards lately. Had some more health and work issues. Also keeping a 2008 Jetstream Blue C6Z06 nice and running. But I still have my 2004 Arrival Blue SSS, which has reached an amazing 215,000 miles with great reliability! In 2014 I replaced hood that had some rust around the latch hoop with a Cowl Induction hood from Street Scene thru Stylin Concepts. Price was good at about $400 shippped, but still cost $700 after painting. Unfortunately, being a double panelled hood for strength the paint could not coat between the panels and at 1.5 years it started rusting from the inside out, due to poor rust resistant coatings. So I decided to go fiberglass. I chose the Keystone Syling Good Hood last fall, but by the time I dealt with my wife's serious illness, Keystone discontinued it, Rats. For functional fiberglass, I am down to RKSport, which looks nowhere near as nice as the GoodHood looked, OR the Amerihood which has a broad narrow 2 section scoop and some smaller air extractor louvers towards the back of the hood. Anyone try either of these hoods, and if so what you thought about their quality and durability? It is still a great driving truck, but needs some paint, so I need to get this going. Thanks, RickR
  8. Ahhh, Must have been one of your first header installs, as a truck is far easier to do header installs (when system is properly designed) than any F-Body of any year! Of course getting the exhaust system bolts/nuts off of a higher mileage vehicle is always a challenge. I have more tools for headers and exhaust work than anything else from prior 1970's Pontiacs, and my prior 94 Z28. The 96 Impals SS was not too bad. On F-Bodies, sockets cannot even be used on most of the bolts. It is common to use different types/lengths/angles of open, box and ratcheting wrenches (shorties, full length, etc). Use stainless header studs whereever you can, so you can hang the gaskets and header on the head using as many as possible to set up. Then for areas that won't accept studs, due to clearance with the nuts to tubes or length of the stud, use stainless bolts. Always use antiseize. Were room permits use bolt locks (i.e. stage 8). The Dynatech stainless header flange gaskets appear good, but I have found that the Earls aluminum gaskets with graphite inserts handle the heat and do NOT leak. Copper and Aluminum header flange gaskets did not work for me. Never use paper gaskets or any variant of paper, If collector flange is an old style 3 of 4 bolt flange, the only gasket that I found to work was a "flexitallic" style, which has spiral wound bands of steel wrapped around and perpendicular to the flange seat. Copper, thin or thick malleable aluminum did not work. Never use paper. For the pipe slip fits, the walker stainless steel band clamps work well, but I wrap a carefull layer of header tubing insulator wrap inbetween clamp and tubes, to avoid leaks. Extra hands always helps, but usually most of the work can be done without. Good comment on protecting header from scratches during test fit or install. Also invest in some spark plug wire slip on thermal heat barrier socks to prevent heat degradation to the plug wires. Ceramic coating is a must, or you will cook everything.
  9. I have the original factory cat/pipe fail on my SSS (rattling, just starting to block & check engine light). Dealer wants $1050 per driver's side and pass side $2100 total) to replace ($883 for just each part)!! Local parts store can't ID part and online factory replacement simply do not seem to be the same quality level. So I might as well go with new Dynatech back to exhaust for less price, like I did on 96 Impala when factory manifold cracked (Clear Image set up that was great). I am curious to know how the Dynatechs do for you. Looks like plenty of room to work on the SSS from above and below (Dynatech has you going thru the fender well as well), so it should not be bad at all. I put in JBA ceramic headers in my 94 Z28 (which were tough to resolve collector flange leaks), which was a cramped hassle and of course I put headers in three 1970's Pontiac TransAms. If you can handle 1970's Pontiacs downward facing exhaust bolts into the engine crossover frame in an F-Body, then you can handle installing headers in about anything!! Man it would take 20 minutes per bolt to get the threads to start, as all you could only use 2 finger tips (no room for thumbs) to start the bolts on the thread! Chevys are SOOOO much easier.
  10. I used a set of tri-Y headers with ceramic coating from clear-image on my 1996 Impala SS with their high flow cats. For the Impala LT1, they were probably the best quality and most effective street performance header out there. I ran them for 4 years without so much as a hint of a leak or any discoloring of the ceramic coating. It was a really good product. Their high flow cats were also VERY good quality with a 304 stainless steel wound core substrate, not this ceramic crap. Overall a thing of beauty/art! Not sure about truck headers he now makes.
  11. Now I am curious, and will have to measure the impedance of my old yellow amber front turn-signal bulbs to see what the factory impedance is. Maybe the very high wattage of near 140 Watts per bulb (with a 1.5 ohm impedance) is ok, as the turn signals and hazards are not continuously energized. Last time I ran 160 W halogen high beams, 10 years ago, one bulb exploded after barely 10 minutes of use, due to the intense heat in a small bulb. Are you saying that you operated your turn signals or hazard lights "all night driving from Georgia to Florida"? Otherwise, I am not sure how that applies to intermittent duty turn signals or constant flashing hazard lights.
  12. 3 Ohms would result in 4.8 amps (almost 70 watts) per bulb, which is pretty high power (hi-po headlamp wattage here). Granted since it is flashing and not continuous duty, that should not melt anything. Leaving the hazard flashers on while on the roadside could be a big problem though. The interesting thing that I noted was that while pulling a U-haul trailer to move my daughter home from grad school 2 weeks ago, that the turn signal (with LEDs) was perfectly normal with the trailer lights connected. Last year when I pulled a U-Haul to move her to grad school without LEDs, I did not notice the turn signals going too slow.
  13. Could you folks provide any assistance, for those successfully doing LED conversions? - My turn signals have the too fast hyperflash now with the front "switchback" turn signal LED bulbs (white - parking mode, yellow - turn signal mode, white with yellow flash when in parking mode with T-signal on). I tried a plug in module from JDBToy thru Amazon, but it did not work (no flash at all), and I have avoided the 6 & 10 ohm resistors, as they run hot, must be mounted to metal (& away from plastic), are big/clumsy and degrade the wiring in an area subject to driving water. I noted that I cannot just replace T-signal relay either as it is integrated into a block under the dash. Anyone come up with a good reliable fix with LEDS for this problem? - I discovered that my overhead console wiring (i.e. map lights, backup camera I added) are on some type of timed circuit (assumed battery saver), which also ties. When I had BU Cam alone, I could only energize the circuti by switching an incandescent bulb map light on then off. But when I went to LED map lights, that no longer worked and the map lights did not work either, unless I switched the bed light on then off. Problem is my last conversion is to replace the bed / 3rd tail light with LED as well, as which point, I fear nothing will work, as not enough current can be drawn to turn battery saver circuit on. Anyone come across this problem and figure out a fix? Thanks, Rick
  14. Thanks, he sounds like a quality worker. However, I have to admit though, as relatively good operating SSS instrument clusters are rare, that I hate to mail my cluster off 12 states away, if I could fix the lighting myself.
  15. So these are the bulbs originally used by the factory, or are you stating that these are the generally used replacement fix? Based on your solder comment, the SSS Instrument Cluster Bulbs do not twist-screw in like the older Chevy instrument cluster bulbs? Thanks, Rick
  16. Two weeks ago, while I was driving from South Florida (Palm Beach Area) to Pennsylvania to tow a trailer back to move my daughter back from graduate studies at Penn State, the Transfer Case in my 2004 SSS failed. I just cleared 150,000 miles on the trip up. While I rarely tow anything, I drive in the city mostly, and I do tend to stomp on it more than my 2008 Corvette Z06. The SSS is completely stock with the exception of a PCMforLess tune and a Volant Air Filter. I have changed the fluid in the Transfer case twice over the years. I started hearing a growling noise in North Carolina at 70mph, which got progressively louder, which did not consistently occur or go away under different driving conditions (load, coasting, uphil, downhill, different gears, braking, etc), other than slowing down. Eventially we had to slow to below 47 mph in upper Maryland to alleviate the sound. I considered that noise = heat, so I preferred to arrive late than weld metal to metal at some point and be stranded. I took it to Klick Lewis Chevy dealer the next day (Palmyra PA) after I got to my daughter's place. Note 5 other Chevy dealers in Harrisburg and closer blew us off on the phone. I had assumed that it was a U-Joint, due to a whump/whump sound I heard at a lower speed after a gas stop. Even riding with the mechanic we could not hear anything with everything being now cold until he went over 60 (in a 40mph zone of their small town). On the lift, we discovered that the rear driveshaft Yoke was so loose in the Transfer case, that the Yoke could be pushed up and down at nearly 30 degrees from the horizontal axis of the Transfer case driveline. Therefore, there was no way that the splines were meshing with the rear driveshaft at all, and we must have made 1/2 of the trip on the Front drive alone of the AWD. The fluid was draining down the rear driveshaft. He said the thrust bushing must have gone. Klick Lewis was able to get a remanufactured unit in between Monday 2PM and Tuesday 10Am and I had the truck back by 1:30PM on Tuesday so they did jump thru hoops. So my 2 questions are; - what kind of reliablity have others on the board had with their SSS AWD Transfer Cases. I always expected that AWD would reduce the reliability of the truck some, so 150,000 miles is not really objectionable. - Second, I ended up paying $2450 for a reman AWD Transfer Case ($1499), a rear driveshaft new Yoke/U-Joint ($295), a second U-Joint, labor, fluid, $125 worth of Fed-Ex overnight costs and tax, with 10% discount coming to the $2450. I really had no choice, but do you all think that this was a fair price? Otherwise, the SSS has been a good truck for me. Any comments would be appreciated, Rick
  17. I apologize if my search capability is lacking, but does anyone know what light bulbs the 2004 Silverado SS Speedo/Tach/Gauge Instrument Cluster uses? Even though my Inst Cluster was replaced under warranty once, over one half of my bulbs have now burned out at 150,000 miles now. In case they are not the common 194 bulbs, I need to know so I can order, BEFORE I disassemble and remove the Cluster. I plan to swap out the short-life (& hot burning) incandescent bulbs with some LED equivalent (maybe blue color), if I can ID the bulbs first. My local Chevy Dealer does not know and says they are not replaceable, which sounds ridiculous. Local autoparts dealers don't know either. Thanks for your patience. Rick
  18. Thanks. Last night I swapped tires last to eliminate the strange wear tire patterns from the equation, and the tires definitely were not the problem. I reviewed shop manuals and based on construction of the CV joints, I thought that it might be one of them, even the sliding spline should not have any thrust load one way or the other. I gave up this morning and took to dealer. Turns out the right hub/wheel bearing assembly WAS the problem, which what I thought it was before looking at CV joint contruction. I just could not tell what side it was coming from either inside the truck or in a care alongside. I would have just installed the bearing myself last month, when I did the left bearing, but the left one was such a bitch to get off without air-tools, that I decided not too proceed, So the bearing would have cost me $170 if I did the work, but will now be $340 with the dealer. Oh well, it least it should be good for now. FYI. The dealer mechanic REALLY thought it was the left bearing too and that that I got a bad new one, but when he took the right bearing loose it was clear that it was the right bearing. Thanks for the prompt response, ... at least it was not an expensive diff problem.
  19. I am looking for help related to this forum thread. I had open heart surgery in August 2011 for new aortic cow valve and to rebuild ascending aorta aneurysm, so my SSS maintenance fell a little behind (that & work hours). I noted a new noise coming from the front axle (AWD) in January 2012 with 129,000 miles on the ODO, which has driven me nuts trying to diagnose. I am at 132,500 miles now and it is very prominent now. I have replaced some parts, driven in a car adjacent to the SSS at speed, and was told by Firestone mechanics, that they do not know if it is a bearing or a tire. My tires do not have the best wear pattern, but have another 5000 miles left in them, roll smoothly and track straight. It is a gear-like growl which begins to be noticeable between 15 to 20 mph and seems to reach full loudness at 45 to 50mph. Shifting into neutral, coasting, accelerating or braking have no effect. Noise is based on wheel speed. Noise is more prevalent in cab than outside when driving a second car parallel to the truck. No noise from rear axle at all, even though there was a gasket leak, which required replacement/refill. Refilled rear diff, front diff, transfer case and trans at 131,000 miles with only mild metal material from front diff. Note I had let front diff go over schedule in 2/2009 at 95,000 miles with notable metal debris on the magnetic drain plug, ... but absolutely no gear noise then, I replaced all 4 brake rotors/pads with stock AC Delco and left rear brake caliper last month. I replaced front left wheel bearing/hub assembly too, as I was certain that was where the noise was coming from (didn't help). Noted that when I make a gradual left turn (i.e. full lane change within 4 to 5 seconds), that the noise goes away. Noise comes back when going straight or turning right. When I replaced wheel bearing, I noted that CV-joint/inner bearing hub assembly is attached to the wheel bearing with a sliding spline connection and that the wheel bearing is fully supported by the suspension spindle. Therefore, turning left or right should not add or subtract thrust loading to the CV joint, inner bearings or front differential. Based on this I have assumed that the noise should not be originating from the diff thru the CV joint assemblies. I have not replaced the right front wheel bearing, as thermography readings did not reveal any real temperature differences after driving 20 miles home from work. In fact non-contact thermometer readings of the center diff, wheel bearings and CV joint-diff attachment hubs have even consistent temps. The only other thing worth noting is my 3rd set of tires (Yokahama Parada Spec X) are well worn with the inner edge of both left wheels (directional tires rotated from front to rear only) are more worn (close to bald), which tell me the left wheel alignment has too much camber now. However, the truck tracks straight with no shudder or tire feathering. I have had tires make alot of noise before (i.e. 315mm Yokohama Advan R-compound rain tires on modified Z28, but it just does not seem to be coming from there in this case. Have you gents or ladies had any issues like this. I have NEVER had any gear growl since I bought the truck new with 400 test drive miles on it in 12/2003. I have already spent $1100 on brakes and left bearing. If it were a diff, I don't want to run to failure due to higher costs. But if it is just an outer wheel bearing or a worn tire, then I could wait. Trying to stay on a budget for now with past Open Heart Surgery massive costs.
  20. Wow, been away from this site for years. How are you? Been playing on VetteZ06.com, since I bought my 2008 Corvette Z06 in April 2010. I had my first accident in my heavily modified 94 Z28 in 2/2010 and hit a concrete pole head-on at 45 mph with cracked ribs and huge contusion on left knee. I don't go to Z28Camaro.com anymore. Bought the C6Z, as I missed the cornering rush. The extra performance of the C6Z has been a real kick! Man now a Z06 has beat the Ferrari Enzo on the Nurburgring on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup R-compound tires. My SSS is just over 128,000 miles now. Not used for work, but brought home lots of stuff from Home Depot / Lowes over the years. Amazingly still on original brakes. 3rd set of tires will need replacing later this year. Replaced oil with Mobil 1 5/30 at least every 5000 miles with oversized Mobil 1 (206?) oil filter. Instrument cluster had to be replaced under warranty, as speedo read 60 mph when parked. ABS computer died at 98,000 miles, but was replaced by dealer free, under manager's discretion. 6 CD player died in late 2009 and was replaced with rebuilt unit for about $700. Coolant flush, replaced all trans and diff fluids at 95,000 miles with some filing wear on front diff, which I let go longer than manual, but still runs like a champ. Replaced plugs, wires, and shocks at 100k miles, even though they did not seem to need it. Still on original A/C (Florida), but may need work within year. Never any accidents, but got some door dings, and attack shoping carts, even though I am anal about parking it defensively. Factory paint is still great although it stays outside in Florida sun, weather and 2 Florida hurricanes. Gaylord tonneau cover paint has started to fade and will require repainting. Leather is still good. PCMs for less tune works great. Volant air cleaner ok. Headlight mod to all 4 on with Silvania Silverstar bulbs shoots out as much light as the HIDs on my C6Z, although the bulbs burn out 3 times as fast, it is still worth it. Added IPOD interface. Plastic center caps on silver SSS wheels are discolored. Onstar no longer works, but I never kept subsription going anyway. All wheel drive has been a huge safety and terrain benefit. I can still blow away most all vehicles in hard acceleration in rain, probably even my 505 hp Z06. Still thinking about installing STS turbo for grins. Gas mileage was never great with AWD at about 15 mpg overall, but the truck has been great and very reliable. I expect to keep it until over 200,000 miles at this rate. My license plate has always been "CR SSGO." I use "I CORNER" for the C6Z, which previously was used on 94Z28 and 1974 Pontiac Firebird Formula with SD 455 engine. 94Z28 and 74 F-Body were heavily modified, but C6Z will stay stock at least until 100k mile warranty expires. Take care.
  21. My SSS is just over 128,000 miles now. Not used for work, but brought home lots of stuff from Home Depot / Lowes over the years. Amazingly still on original brakes. 3rd set of tires will need replacing later this year. Replaced oil with Mobil 1 5/30 at least every 5000 miles with oversized Mobil 1 (206?) oil filter. Instrument cluster had to be replaced under warranty, as speedo read 60 mph when parked. ABS computer died at 98,000 miles, but replaced by dealer free under manager discretion. 6 CD player died in late 2009 and was replaced with rebuilt unit for about $700. Coolant flush and replaced all trans and diff fluids at 95,000 miles with some filing wear on front diff, which I let go longer than manual, but still runs like a champ. Replaced plugs, wires, and shocks at 100k miles, even though they did not seem to need it. Still on original A/C (Florida), but may need work within year. Never any accidents, but got some door dings, and attack shoping carts, even though I am anal about parking it defensively. Factory paint is still great although it stays outside in Florida sun, weather and 2 Florida hurricanes. Gaylord tonneau cover paint has started to fade and will require repainting. Leather is still good. PCMs for less tune works great. Volant air cleaner ok. Headlight mod to all 4 on with Silvania Silverstar bulbs shoots out as much light as the HIDs on my C6Z, although the bulbs burn out 3 times as fast, it is still worth it. Added IPOD interface. Plastic center caps on silver SSS wheels are discolored. Onstar no longer works, but I never kept subsription going anyway. All wheel drive has been a huge safety and terrain benefit. I can still blow away most all vehicles in hard acceleration in rain, probably even my 505 hp Z06. Still thinking about installing STS turbo for grins..
  22. OK, you admit that you have a truck that sound like a funny car now. It obviously is making massive power, since your transmissions are failing repeatedly and instantaneously. You said that your wife would not allow the cost of C5R heads, but now you want a supercharger and all of its support parts? I envy your unlimited bank account! You must be in the oil business. But seriously, good luck. Rick R
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